Hey friendo! What are some of your recent winter deep cuts, game-wise? Bonus points if you name something I`ve never heard of and convince me to play it! (And hey, maybe we`ll read it on the show )
Old pc rts from bullfrog called Dungeon Keeper. Playing the bad guy is always more interesting
These are probably not deep cuts anymore but we have Call of the Sea and Omori queued up as our next games in my house
The hidden game in Mister Mosquito where you try and kill another person with bicycles. It was called Reckless Cyclist. Me and a few friends LOVE Deep Rock Galactic. It was in early access for like two years, but officially launched in May of 2020. It`s a really fun, co-op game. Procedurally generated levels and very unique character classes. Good humor. Kinda simple, but fun.
The Letter! A branching-narrative visual novel horror set in pseudo-Britain that has way more possibilities than youd think at first. Utterly compelling voice acting. Just finished bug fables. It was a delight. Imagine if paper Mario and a bugs life had a baby.
Just got the "Breath of the Wild" itch again, so I picked up "Immortals: Fenyx Rising" on Switch, and the beginning is a lot of Expo, but the gameplay feels so so so good. Almost like BotW redone with Greek mythology, in a Rare-like engine/style. Lot of layers to peel back. 4.5
There`s this great indie game called Hadeoh wait, sorry. Deep cuts, deep cuts... Right. So, HUNTDOWN is pretty cool. Great if you want the cyberpunk without the bugs and everything else. I just picked up Broforce for the third time, this time on switch. Retro, roid-raging 80s and 90s action bros battle terrorists, aliens, and satan in the name of freedomination in what may be my favourite couch co-op game of all time
Forager, steam world dig 2
Bloodroots! Action arcade game with some cool improvised weapon elements. I just upgraded my pc, so I don`t have anything installed. But I`ve been playing a little unknown gem that I`m sure no one`s heard of, called Solitaire. I`ll take my bonus points please.
I just finished playing Haven on my PS5. Its a really good character driven story with pretty fun exploration gameplay.
Fallout-The Frontier is an insanely big mod for New Vegas that dropped just recently, and it is unbelievably impressive what they`ve done in a decade old game. Not exactly an easy recommendation, since it requires so much setup.
Not much of a deep cut but Part-Time UFO on switch was a blast on couch co-op
Me and my friends have been playing the heck out of Its a 4-player online co-op fps, where youre dwarves who go on missions to mine rare minerals, fight bosses, or escort and repair giant drills, all while mining through massive caves filled with alien bugs!
I picked up Lost in Vivo, a psychological horror game with FPS elements made by the creators of Spooky`s Jumpscare Mansion (which just recently had a cool final update). I like Vivo, it`s a really nice Retraux horror game that brings to mind the early Silent Hill games.
Bury Me, My Love (about a Syrian refugees journey - an interactive visual novel style game played through text messages, available on switch, iOS, and more) Also getting back into FE3H & started Abzu (game about scuba diving)
Stories Untold just came to PlayStation in October. Its short but pretty great.
I basicaly live in beat saber now and have befreinded the people of the "note block". The enjoy being cut in half.
Ive been playing my childhood fave Dragon Warrior Monsters on my green gameboy color after finding both in my closet. I honestly love games with early or pixel-y graphics because they let my brain fill in lots of gaps, and the game is still great.
While I didnt play it THIS winter, I am rarely more than a suggestion away from trying for one of the weirder endings in Ogre Battle.
Ive been deep into Dark Souls Remastered on Switch. First time playing and its so captivating. Really excellent game design!
Harvest Moon for the DS!!!
Perfect Vermin is a 15-20 min game about finding the hidden living furniture in an office and destroying it with a sledgehammer. The art is so cool, and it leaves you wanting more. I played it through like 3 more times after I finished it the first time. Spiritfarer is really touching. After the numbness of 2020 it really hit me emotionally.
Played a ton of The Long Dark over the Christmas/New Year break, it`s got just the right balance of survival to never tip into power fantasy and the snowy wilderness settings carry the tone perfectly
Theres this weird Mech/Tank game called Brigador that somehow just nails the feeling of driving/fighting a next. Good art style, too
In October we at ported our Strife remaster for Switch, which is pretty good: Calico! It`s cute enough to overcome it`s lack of polish (so far)
I played about 20 hours of Forager on Switch to "beat" it. It`s basically an idle clicker game that`s actually interactive (or just has gameplay) and is heavily Zelda inspired
Not sure how deep the cut, but Slashers Keep. Its a weird janky first person roguelike that has a lot of quirk and charm. Youre basically slashing your way up out of many many dungeon floors and there are some cool pay-forward/progression mechanics
I`ve been hopping back every now and then into Scourgebringer. Really fun 16-bit roguelite with a dash and parry mechanic.
Signs of the Sojourner. It`s a card-based narrative game where you add cards to your deck as you travel and learn to communicate better with people from different cultures. There`s even a card mechanic for talking to those who are grieving. Monster Sanctuary launched recently on Switch and PC, and its a great mix of monster battler and Metroidvania.
Rune Factory 4: Special on the Switch! Its basically a Harvest Moon RPG and Ive had a lot of fun with it. :-) Im usually bad at combat and weapon-building in video games but RF4 has been really accessible and fun to learn for me.
Superliminal is really fucking cool, very much in-line with games like The Witness, which I initially played based on `s recommendation in 2016!
Atomicrops just got an update and is still that perfect mix of farming sim and twin stick shooter
It didnt come out this winter but Hardspace Shipbreaker
Everybody should play the last tree! It`s a really short and moving story about loss, told through a really gorgeous dream space
Picked up a game called "BPM: Bullets Per Minute," which is a rouge-like shooter. The game has a great heavy-metal soundtrack, and the premise is you shoot with the beat of the music. Is a lot of fun and you feel really badass!
I realize it`s not exactly winter (as it came out in the beginning of October), but I Am Dead definitely helped me get through the anxiety and dread that was... All of November/December. It just had so much charm and heart, which was just what I needed to ease my poor nerves.
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure! its a game about taking pictures of wildlife and destroying capitalist leeches! and they plant a tree for every copy sold! and the music and environment is great and it clocks in at like... 2 hours, so what do you have to lose!
If Found... was absolutely beautiful. The mechanics, the humanity of the story, the space metaphor, all absolutely brilliant. Came out in May, but I played it in December, and it warmed my heart in a hard year.
Brigador, an isometric tank/mech game with sandbox-style missions. It didn`t get a lot of traction on release but it`s slowly becoming more known. It`s a super fun way to kill half an hour if I`m not sure what to play.
Carto is the best puzzle game i`ve played since Portal
i`ve gone deep back into `star wars: shadows of the empire.` somehow i`m worse at it than when i was 6 years old but it`s still one of my favorite n64 games!
Deep Rock Galactic! Procedurally-generated FPS/mine-em-up hybrid Amazing co-op game
Wintermoor Tactics Club. Its perfect for winter as its right in the name. Its a mix of visual novel and tactics D&D adjacent combat. The characters are all high schoolers battling to be names the ultimate club in their school in 1981.
Not super deep, but The Banner Saga games are perfect for winter
Iron Danger. Finnish folklore XCOM-meets-Into-The-Breach Shuffle a scant handful of unique units around, scrubbing back and forth along the timeline to get the perfect series of moves (block, set on fire, sidestep, push into fire, block) to beat seemingly insurmountable odds
Not really a deep cut, but I finally got ahold of 13 Sentinels: Agis Rim. I`m glad you guys mentioned it cause it`s really cool! Loving the visuals, story and even the gameplay. Otherwise I`ve been playing alot Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Third Strike on the switch.
Far cry 5 finally went on sale so my buddy got it, playing coop in his fresh game is so much fun
NERTS Dutch blitz with regular decks of cards. Free on Steam. Infuriatingly simple.
Superliminal is a super trippy puzzle game that uses perspective of the player in really unique ways. Its a game that when seen in action is incredibly inventive! During the Winter sale I whoopsies and ended up owning all of the Disgaea games so I`ve been chipping away at the original and plan on going through the series leading up to six, which is coming out this year.
SnowRunner. Navigating those crummy trucks over rugged terrain and getting stuck over and over again is straight up Sisyphean... and when you actually reach the objective and get out? You feel like you can do anything.
Maybe you played it already but River City Girls was holding me over till Scott Pilgrim rereleased and it`s so good! Just sucks there`s no online coop :(
Monster Sanctuary! Great monster collecting game with a great pixel art look and fun monsters!
I have none because I`m sure you`ve heard of them but I`m back into Stardew Valley. But I also found a true throwback! Wolfenstein 3D with the Bevis & Butthead mod.
Been playing a lot of Bloons TD 6, and the mobile app actually works well for it. my friend group has been really enjoying aging Dead By Daylight again lately. Some of us had never really tried it out and it`s been a lot of fun.
Solitaire conspiracy is great! You are playing traditional solitaire but they add extra mechanics by stacking queens, kings, and jacks on top of piles and theres a cyberpunk FMV storyline starring Greg Miller. so much fun
Another pleasant way to pass a weekend is with Alba from UsTwo Games. Its a peaceful exploration of an island where you play a kid fixes up the place and take photos of birds and other animals.
Do you like Castlevania/Metroid platformers? Look no further. It`s known as the `spiritual successor` to SotN; Developed by (Artplay) Koji Igarashi. Kung-Fu. Spells. Crafting system. .. or just play that small indie game Hades, it`s like goty. Omori came out on Christmas! I somehow beat it in three days and still can`t stop thinking about it. It`s a turn-based RPG with psychological horror elements. Has vibes of Earthbound, Yume Nikki, Off, etc. with a wildly colorful art style and deep themes. I have grabbed Obra Dinn and Kentucky route zero on PlayStation store mainly at your recommendation
Spiritfarer has been a good time, a chill lifesim-like meditation on the passage of time and temporary nature of all relationships.
In no way a new release or a deep cut, but i`ve been replaying Super Mario Odyssey and I think it`s just worth remembering how GOOD the feel and mechanics of that game are, let alone how absolutely stunning the art direction is
My girlfriend has been playing a lot of the iOS game Sky, the spiritual sequel to Journey by ThatGameCompany (slated for a switch release at some point). Its absolutely beautiful, and the the social features expand on journeys connection to other players in cute/interesting ways
Not new or particularly deep of a cut, but stellaris has been my saving grace through the unpleasantness. It`s a galaxy wide civ builder that has the irresistible "one more turn quality to it" There is a bit of a learning curve, but once you have it down it`s hard to stop playing
I`ll say it until I turn blue, but really enjoyed Rki on switch! Beautifully designed, heartfelt & heartbreaking story of loss & grief wrapped up in a snowy Nordic adventure with fantastic music The Inuit-made Never Alone was something my now-wife and I played at the airport while waiting for our flight to the actual Arctic where she taught. It`s a 2p physics based sidescroller (like Trine?). One of you plays an Inuit child and the other plays a fox. As winter as it gets
Yes, Your Grace is a pixel art fantasy kingdom manager where petitioners show up to your throne each day with problems, alliances must be made and navigated, and the Noble family is surprisingly well written. I cried at one point. Shory game, I`d highly recommend Might I suggest the adorable puzzler TOHU that is literally too cute: And the space-agency management sim that gives me a sense of accomplishment that nothing in real life ever does, Mars Horizon: Before I got Hades I was playing Beacon! It`s the first rogue-like I`d ever really enjoyed and it`s got everything: - future tech - robots - great soundtrack - dinosaurs - smooth poly art style - personal ethics crisis re: cloning - clay for legs
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. Beautiful art, awesome story told well, and with a lot of different ways to experience that story (like should I stick with this character or go on to another) and the combat sections are like cool tower defenseish situations
Rimworld and Cavestory. rimworld is just endlessly fun and i felt that i just had to play cave story since it`s so iconic
Carto! A fun little puzzle game where you can control the map to help you navigate the world around you!
Petal Crash! it`s like Super Puzzle Fighter but with some interesting rule changes (when you get a match it blasts your blocks around the playfield) and it`s made by a queer dev and has a nonbinary centaur in it! really great stuff, perfect cozy little couch puzzle game
Deep Rock Galactic. It`s what happens when you take Minecraft, Left 4 Dead, a class progression system and throw them in a blender.....it works infinitely better than I made it sound.
I`ve been obsessed with Planet Zoo - basic zoo simulator that`s just very cute and surprisingly deep
Spiritfarer- A game by about helping souls come to rest... Very beautiful game with gorgeous music that made me cry....repeatedly
We`ve been playing Twin Mirror - it`s a DONTNOD game (people who made Life Is Strange) and so far it seems to be a decent detective-y game. The mechanics are a little strange but definitely worth a try!
Been making my way through State of Decay 2. Finally got a pc and able to play some Xbox exclusives. Also Fuser is a great time.
Does Children of Morta still count as a deep cut? After Hades I wanted more story driven roguelite, and it delivers pretty well on that. It is much, MUCH harder though.
Spiritfarer. Beautiful artwork, wonderful score, great character concepts, and nice dialogues. A relaxing resource management game that will tug on your heartstrings. Cannot recommend it enough if youre in need of some zoning out but still want an impactful story
HORACE. Played it on Switch over the course of locked down Christmas. Really charming and genuinely funny. A lot of the jokes are nods at British TV etc, but also some get references.
I finally got around to trying out Chibi-Robo on the GameCube and it`s fascinating how much that game really started to lay the groundwork for Nintendo`s heavy focus on bite-size gameplay and their whole "you should take a break!" mantra from that era.
Call of the Sea. Fantastic myst meets fireWatch game
The Chinese Room put out Little Orpheus and its so good. Like their previous titles, its more of a walking simulator, with light platforming. Where it really shines is in its art direction, acting, and music. It feels like you are playing a Disney ride in the best way possible.
My wife and I have been deep-diving Wargroove. Its a strategy game akin to Fire Emblem. Very deep gameplay with approachable controls so the barrier to entry is low for my wife but the skill ceiling is high enough for me! And a dedicated co-op campaign to boot!!
ai the somnium files! its such a surprisingly warm game about family (and a few murders happen that u have to solve) made by the same creator of zero escape! its def not as confusing as ze, and the plot & characters make it so engaging its such an underrated game
For me Id say A Short Hike. Absolutely loved everything about that game, apart from the length as its one of those rare games that I wish were actually longer! Such a pleasant, relaxing, happy game to relax and play.
going under is a super fun silicon valley-themed roguelike! but obviously got overshadowed by hades this fall
Carto! It`s on switch and game pass! It`s so delightful and charming and not a huge time commitment. Did I mention charming?
Just started playing Due Process. The asymmetric gameplay is really my thing, and the planning phase before matches is a great way to meet new people. Requeuing with the same squad after a winning game is a great feeling.
Not really a deep cut since everyone played it but, after the whole Cyberpunk 2077 unpleasantness, Cloupunk was a great palate cleanser. It clearly loves the genre it`s exploring and manages to explore interesting and complex themes while maintaining a great sense of humor
Everybody talkin bout Bugsnax, but nobody talkin bout playin Bugsnax.
not recent but if you`re in the mood for more VNs, Ciconia - When They Cry is excellent
everything by -> I`ve been playing Good Pizza, Great Pizza and it scratches the part of my monkey brain that misses downloading Diner Dash demos off of Yahoo Games and playing them for only the 30 minute free demo period. Since I skipped the Wii U, I just finished playing through Pikimin 3 Deluxe on the Switch! Not quite as relaxing as I`d remembered Pikmin being when I was younger, but fun none the less.
Ive been playing the heck out of TemTem. I was skeptical at first but damn is it good. Growing up with Pokmon, I didnt want to cheat on my childhood, but I had to nut up and accept its a game made for 8 year olds still. Temtem is the adult version of Pokmon and I luh it.
Banished. Not really a deep cut but so impressive for a tiny team and I wish theyd make more of it! Ideal civ builder
Ive been playing Struggling with a buddy of mine this winter. Super bizarre, but very creative!! Think of Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy meets the spoiler from Playdeads INSIDE
Call of the Sea! It`s been six weeks since it came out and I`m *still* thinking about the ending. It`s a user-friendly point-and-click puzzle game that I played in two sittings only because I didn`t have enough time after work to play it all in one go.
Labyrinthine, BIGFOOT, Sign of Silence!
Cloud Gardens. In it, you grow a little post-apocalyptic terrarium by placing different plants and "feeding" them by placing junk. By the end, you have a pleasant vignette. It fills the same spot in my heart as ISLANDERS did last year: low-stakes, freeform puzzles to chill to
Ive been playing through Kingdoms: Two Crowns! Strategy, base building, pixel art - its incredibly simple and deeply complex at the same time. It slaps so hard.
Tabletop Stimulator! Its the imperfect substitute for my neighborhood board game bar thats kept me social without breaking solitary isolation.
Justin mentioned The Under Presents` short lived live action VR immersive theater experience a few episodes back but he never mentioned the OTHER gameplay mode, a NOT live action sleep-no-more esque sci-fi thriller set on a boat stuck out of time. Play TimeBoat y`all!!
the pathless is a really cool take on the open world concept!
Some friends and I have been playing a bit of Trine lately, and it has been a blast. You will find out very quickly who can be trusted with boxes and their instant materialization
Ring of Pain is excellent. It`s a card-based dungeon crawler where you build an inventory rather than a deck. It`s fast-paced, strategic and just has a wonderfully unique vibe to it. Highly recommended: Pathologic 2, a beautifully written game about overcoming a plague in a small Russian town, and also so much more than that. A tense but incredibly rewarding experience
Streets of Rogue is a good time
Just started playing Hydroneer on steam, it`s a single developer game and a bit rough around the edges but the peace I feel digging dirt and finding gold is unmatched, plus there`s plenty of automation upgrades so you can rake in the cash once you build your system.
STARDEW VALLEY 1.5. Which isn`t a deep cut but needed to be said. More seriously, I`ve been loving Wingspan on the switch. It`s a beautiful adaptation of a really great boardgame, and a really great option for a short, chill break on a stressful day.
I got really into Flinthook the past few months. Its a seriously good Indie rogue like with interesting mobility and space-pirate aesthetic. Brutally hard, though.
Justin might be interested in playing the old Vampire Diaries FMV game that Jenny Nicholson highlighted in her last video!
I took a DEEP dive into Noita over the winter. Factorio is also a consistent companion.
Warframe is a great timesink any time I have a podcast to listen to and time to relax. There`s also Dragalia Lost, perhaps the most player-friendly gacha game in existence
Theres an indie game on steam called Florence! Its about a girl stuck in her routine, and its beautifully animated, orchestrated, and developed. Won a BAFTA, but not talked about a lot. A great quarantine experience that came out at the end of the before times.
Ive been playing a LOT of My Time At Portia. Its like Stardew if you were primarily a blacksmith combined with more active baddies and some adorable fantasy livestock like Panbats (pandas with pat wings). Has an interesting story and lovely characters!
Someone else already mentioned it, but I second Ikenfell!! The plot, characters (lots of diversity and LGBTQ+ rep!), and music were all so lovely, and the accessibility options made the whole experience so great. I haven`t been that engaged in a game in a long time!!!
I have been playing so much Kingsway, an adult swim games roguelike on steam. Also Burnable Garbage Day and Alter Ego and Ord on mobile!
Celeste!!! Mostly because I want to hear y`all talk about it more. Oh and there`s snow all up in it, plus I`ve been playing it in Winter soooo.
Ive just started playing Omori! A horror rpg about mental illness thats been in the works for about 7 years. It has a really unique battle system and amazing characters. Im really really enjoying it so far and highly recommend it. But if you do play it, go in blind.
Call of the Sea is getting some traction now, but this December release was like EXACTLY what my Myst-loving heart needed this winter.
Talk about Spiritfarer if ya can!! Heard really great things about the writing and characters.
Ive been playing Wingspan on the switch and cant get enough. Its originally a board game, but this kinda counts...?
Lonely Mountains Downhill. Beautiful chill mountain landscapes that you get to bike all over.
Ive rediscovered Reigns on iOS, but also I finally mastered Kingdom on steam, which apparently came out in 2015. So just digging up some gems tbh. Cant wait to hear other deep cuts on the ep! Been getting my hands dirty on some Dino crisis 2, not exactly cutting edge but very fun
I would mention Ikenfell but someone else gave it the props it deserved so Ill throw out Blasphemous. I bounced off of most of the Soulsbourne games and though I like Metroidvanias, I never finish them, but Blasphemous has a metal vibe and the gameplay just works for me
Escape from Tarkov is back baby! Same great gameplay loop. New guns, new loot, new expanded maps.
Like winter themed game? Simogos Year Walk comes to mind, perfect iPhone thing.
DRAGON`S DOGMA. (Sorry for yelling. I`m just excited.)
Devil Daggers is an excellent game that has a creepy, retro shooter atmosphere and challenges you to survive by fractions of a second!
I jumped into that Deep Rock Galactic grind. The solo mode is pretty enjoyable and it`s a great game to play with friends
disco elysium, for sure. some of the best worldbuilding in video games.
I haven`t heard enough Nier:Automata personally.
La-Mulana 1 and 2 are so uniquely incredible niche "metroidvania" hits that I infinitely recommend. They are also on sale!
Rakuen is pretty dope but kind of old.
Mad Rat Dead! It`s like Crypt of the Necrodancer but as a Sonic/Klonoa style platformer with some killer music by top names in the rhythm/dance games scene. Its a ton of fun with a surprisingly affecting storyline
Just finished replaying Horizon Zero Dawn (+DLC) on PC, can`t remember if yall have talked about it already or not.
SINoALICE isnt new but it is a bizarre gacha game made by Yoko Taro
13 sentinels has been an amazing game to play rn with all of this time, its a game with a complex non-linear story that really takes advantage of the medium, it also has some fun rts gameplay, a real good gem
i would love to see everybody on besties try Path of Exile. it`s a real labor of love the devs have been working on for over 10 years now and its just released its big yearly expansion. it`s a spiritual successor to Diablo 2 and is very, very fun if you fall into the rabbit hole
bounced off of super meat boy years ago, but recently decided to give another shot. I`ve made it to hell so far and hace found it pretty satisfying despite the difficulty
Do these need to be games about winter, or just anything we played over the winter?
Contradiction! Its old but the acting is all impeccable and the contradiction system is all the good parts of ace attourney but for an entire game
I need people to play and talk more about Ikenfell. The music, writing and gameplay were such a treat. I also love an rpg that respects my time.
